The FC Dallas U-18s, who just returned from the Copa Chivas where they went 0-1-2 in a group against Chivas Guadalajara & Atlas of Liga MX plus Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, are currently 7-4-2 in the US Soccer Development Academy U-18 Frontier Division. Many U-18 players have been training with the FC Dallas first team through their MLS preseason schedule, and will head into Dallas Cup XXXVI with plenty of previous experience in the tournament.

"I think it’s good for the U-18’s," said head coach Francisco Molina. "It gives them something to look forward to. Right now in the standings we’re not doing great, there’s no excuses, but it’s an extra motivation for the boys to know that they’re going to be in the Super Group and represent the club and the Academy well."

"They are probably a half a step ahead of us just because of the culture," said Molina about playing international opponents. "We’re working very hard to get there, but they’re still a half a step ahead but I think the boys will be motivated and well prepared to represent the club."

FC Dallas joins Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy as MLS academies in the Super Group with international sides Everton FC(England), Valencia CF(Spain), Corinthians(Brazil), Coritiba(Brazil), Tigres(Mexico) and River Plate(Argentina) all confirmed as Gordon Jago Super Group participants.

Dr Pepper Dallas Cup XXXVI begins on March 29th and runs through April 5th. Stay tuned to FCDallas.com for full coverage of the annual international tournament.

The FC Dallas U-16s traveled to Houston last weekend for the final round of qualifying in the 2014-2015 Generation adidas Cup with matches against the Colorado Rapids, Chicago Fire and Sporting KC to decide who would advance to the International Division Championship bracket of the annual tournament.

FC Dallas won all three matches, defeating the Colorado Rapids 3-1 behind goals from Gio Montesdeoca, Eddie Munjoma, Weston McKinnie and an own goal.

They followed that up with a 1-0 win over Chicago Fire on Saturday through a Brandon Terwege goal that clinched qualification into the International Division and then defeated Sporting KC 1-0 through another Montesdeoca on Monday in very difficult weather conditions to clinch the #1 seed in the group.

Since the GA Cup is a U-17 tournament, the FC Dallas team is a combination of U-16 & U-18 players, and they went 4-0-1 in qualifying matches allowing just two goals in the five games. They will play for the GA Cup Championship right here at the Toyota Soccer Center in early April.

FC Dallas U-15's & U-13's sweep Houston Dynamo

The FCD U-15 & U-13 teams were also in Houston this weekend for TPAL league play against the Dynamo.

The U-15s moved to an astounding 10-0-1 in league play defeating Houston 4-0 behind goals from Jommar Reyes, Carlitos Garcia, Paxton Pomykal and Mandel Steward.

The U-13s also defeated the Dynamo 3-2 with goals coming from Luis Pacheco, Roel Pena and Dante Sealy. The U-13s are 7-1-3 on the year and lead their division by five points.

Both teams will host Texas Rush at the Toyota Soccer Center this Saturday at 12PM and 2PM.

The FC Dallas U-18 Academy is down in Guadalajara this week playing in the prestigious Copa Chivas against some of the best teams from Mexico and around the world. FC Dallas has been placed in a group with Chivas Guadalajara and Atlas from Liga MX as well as Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan and Atletico Paranaese from Brazil and matches are 70 minutes long.

The FCD travel roster is a mix of U-18 and U-16 players with many of them having experience from last year's tournament. Here is the full roster:

In the first match, the U-18s took on Urawa Red Diamonds of the J. League playing to an exciting 2-2 draw. Santiago Agudelo opened the scoring for FC Dallas with a close-range effort in the 21st minute.

FCD would take a 2-0 lead into halftime as Eric Davies scored off a corner kick to double the lead.

The Japanese side finally broke through in the 62nd minute as Mizuki Arai scored his first goal and then in the 68th minute Urawa was awarded a penalty kick that they scored to tie the match.

It'll be just a little bit longer until Homegrown signing Alex Zendejas joins the FCD first team.

As expected, he's been called back into U-17 Residency as they prepare for the CONCACAF Championships and hopefully U-17 World Cup. Here's the full release from US Soccer:

CHICAGO (Jan. 27, 2015) – U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach Richie Williams has invited 28 players to the 2015 Spring Semester of the U.S. U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida.

In late February and early March, the U-17 MNT will be participating in the 2015 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, which serves as the qualifying tournament for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup for the CONCACAF region.

“This is an important semester for us and an important year for this cycle,” Williams said. “With World Cup qualifying at the beginning of March, it will be important for us to continue training well and performing well. We also need to find a balance with this group and some of the players who are not with us on a regular basis to form a 20-man roster that will head to qualifying to compete and get results.”

The U-17 Residency Program roster features 24 players who were with the team during the 2014 fall semester. The four newcomers to the group are defender Matthew Constant, midfielder Giuseppe Barone and forwards Elvir Ibisevic and Josh Perez.

The Residency roster also includes 25 players currently registered with Development Academy clubs, and 27 in all with ties to the Academy.

The U.S. players live on campus at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, and train in the morning under the guidance of the U.S. U-17 MNT coaching staff. In the afternoon, the players attend classes at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School. While in the full-time residency program, the U.S. not only trains daily, but also has access to the IMG Academy facilities. The team regularly uses IMG’s state-of-the-art strength-training facilities, as well as some of the nation’s best sports psychologists who work at the Academy. The IMG Academies include top-of-the-line soccer equipment, Bermuda grass fields, renovated student housing and dining facilities.

Since its inception, approximately 400 players have been through the full-time Residency Program, and more than 100 players have moved on to Major League Soccer and other professional leagues.

The first full-time U.S. Soccer Residency Program began on Jan. 17, 1999, when U.S. Soccer collected 20 of the country’s elite youth players to train year-round.

The CONCACF U-20s are in full swing down in Jamaica and FC Dallas players have played a big part in the tournament as Mexico and the USA look to qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. Let's take a look at how both of our FC Dallas professional players have done as well as a quick look at an Academy player making headlines.

Jesse Gonzalez and Mexico U-20s perfect through three games

It's been a fantastic tournament for Jesse Gonzalez and the Mexico U-20s who look set to cruise to one of the two automatic qualifying spots.

Mexico is a perfect 3-0-0 in the tournament with an astounding +13 goal differential. FC Dallas Homegrown goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez has played every minute of all three games in goal for Mexico allowing just one goal for El Tri.

Judging by the highlights, Gonzalez hasn't had a ton of work in his two shutouts, though stiff tests await in El Salvador and a potential U-20 Championship game. Mexico can clinch the top spot in the group and a place in the 2015 U-20 World Cup with a win over El Salvador on Monday.

Up and down for Kellyn Acosta & USA U-20s

Team captain Kellyn Acosta and the US Soccer U-20s have had an up and down tournament so far in Jamaica going 1-1-1 and finding themselves in third place in the group with two matches left.

USA bounced back with a huge 8-0 win over lowly Aruba that shot the US back up to third in the group standings. Kellyn Acosta started and played the first two matches for the US U-20s as captain.

The United States certainly has their work cut out for them in the next week with games against hosts Jamaica on Sunday and Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday. The US needs to finish at least third to qualify for the one-game knockout round with the winner advancing to the U-20 World Cup.

FCD Academy's Ruiz leads surprising Guatemala U-20s

RUIZ Golazo vs US

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the CONCACAF U-20s has been Guatemala and FCD Academy midfielder Andy Ruiz scored the goal everyone was talking about in the 1-1 draw against the United States.

Guatemala has followed that up with wins over Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica giving them a great shot to either win the group or finishing second.

Ruiz has played every minute of the three matches scoring the goal against the United States.

Guatemala has games against Aruba and group-leading Panama left with two wins securing them the top spot in the group and a berth in the 2015 U-20 World Cup.

In their first match on Sunday, Chris Hayden's team played against Tahuichi, the host club, in front of more than 20,000 people after the opening ceremonies at the Estadio Ramon Tahuichi Aguilera.

According to Hayden, the team played mostly defensively through the first 20 minutes but settled down and nearly took the lead late in the half when Jesus Ferreira hit the post. FCD conceded two goals in quick succession right before halftime.

In the second half, they conceded once more to fall to a 3-0 defeat.

The U-14s bounced back on day two with a 3-0 win over Brazilian side Corumbaense.

Carlos Garcia opened the scoring in the first half before Adrian Morales and Garcia scored to seal the 3-0 win in the second half.

1-1-0 in the tournament, FCD closes out the group stage against Amador Plaza from Panama today. They'll play one more match after that to determine final seeding.

It's almost time for the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championships as the North American soccer scene starts to awake from the holiday slumber and FC Dallas Homegrowns will once again play a big part in the tournament which serves as qualifiying for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Jesse Gonzalez has been called up for the Mexico U-20s as one of two goalkeepers for a Mexico team that will face Cuba, Canada, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti from January 10th through 22nd with the top team from each group advancing to the U20 World Cup and the next four teams playing in playoff matches to also earn spots in the tournament.

The Unites States U-20 CONCACAF Championship team is set to be announced on Monday with Kellyn Acosta expected to be one of the midfield captains for Tab Ramos' squad.

The opening weekend of the 2014-2015 US Youth Soccer National League took place in Wilson, NC last weekend and the FC Dallas Premier U17 & U18 teams went undefeated in eight combined games. The teams will meet again in Florida in late December as they look to book a ticket to the National Championships in Tulsa in 2015. Here's a recap of the action:

FC Dallas 97 U18 Premier boys go 4-0 at National League play behind five goals from Sergio Lara

97 Premier defeated Fullerton Rangers 2-1 with Sergio Lara and Jose Benitez scoring in their first match. They followed that up with a 2-0 win over Albion SC White behind two more goals from Lara.

In their third match, 97 Premier defeated Chicago Fire Raiders Elite 4-1 with Lara scoring two more goals and Reece Schattle and Matt Rochowski scoring the other two goals.

They wrapped the perfect week up with a 3-0 win over Classics Eagles behind goals from Schattle, Rochowski and Alan Salazar.

FC Dallas 98 U17 Premier boys to 1-0-3 at National League opening week

FC Dallas 98 Premier openeed the week with a1-1 draw against SC del Sol 98 with Gerber Chavez scoring the goal for FCD. Next up was a 3-3 draw against Fullerton Rangers White behind two goals from Luis ZuaZua and a strike from Matthew Gonzalez.

In their third match, FCD 98 Premier tied Baltimore Celtic behind a strike from Gonzalez.

Finally, the 98s scored their first win of the week on the last day beating the Chicago Magic PSG Preacademy 6-0 with a hat trick from Adan Garcia and goals from Chavez, Gonzalez and Keegan McCombie.

Just one more camp stands between Tab Ramos' US U-20 National Team and CONCACAF U-20 World Cup Qualifying set to begin on January 9th in Jamaica.

Kellyn Acosta has once again been called in to camp in Honduras which will be the final tune-up before things get really serious. Here's the release from US Soccer:

CHICAGO (Dec. 12, 2014) – U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos has named a roster for the USA’s final foreign training camp of the year from Dec. 15-22 in Honduras.

Nineteen players are headed to the camp, which will feature matches against the Honduras U-20s on Dec. 18 and 21 at Morazan Stadium in San Pedro Sula. The Dec. 18 game kicks off at 4 p.m. local (5 p.m. ET) and the Dec. 21 match at 2 p.m. local (3 p.m. ET).

This is the U-20 MNT’s final foreign training camp of the year before turning its focus on the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship starting Jan. 9 in Jamaica.

The USA roster for Honduras features nine of the 10 players who took part in the U-20 MNT’s recent domestic fitness camp from Dec. 3-10 in Bradenton, Florida.

The group also includes midfielders Russell Canouse and Romain Gall, who are the only two players to feature in all seven of the U-20 MNT’s international matches this year. Canouse leads the team with six starts and Gall is tied for third on the U-20s with two goals, both of which came during the USA’s 4-3 victory against Russia’s U-21 national team on Nov. 12 in Marbella, Spain.

The goalkeeping tandem of Santiago Castaño and Zack Steffen has accounted for six of the USA’s seven starts this year. Steffen, who officially signed with Bundesliga club SC Freiburg on Friday, has posted shutouts in both of his matches – a 4-0 win against Bermuda and a scoreless draw against Australia en route to the NTC Invitational title – and Castaño had a clean sheet during the USA’s 1-0 win against the Republic of Ireland on Nov. 15.

The USA roster includes 18 players with ties to the Development Academy.

The U-20 MNT is 4-1-2 in international competition and 10-2-2 overall in 2014.

Following the Honduras camp, the U-20s will hold a pre-World Cup qualifying camp in Florida before departing for the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. The USA opens Group A play at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship against Guatemala on Jan. 9 at Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica (5:30 p.m. ET kickoff).

The FC Dallas Academy wrapped up their 2014 schedule with the USSDA Winter Showcase held in Florida over Thanksgiving weekend. We talked to our coaches and players about how the weekend went as the Academy went up against some of the best in MLS.